Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-01-02
SURPLUS WOMEN.
Mistress and Maidstone Hints tn the For
mer Coucsrnt, & The Latter

Mistress and Maidstone Hints to the For
mer Coucernt, 8 The Latter
Prentice Milford, writing from Boston
says: There is said to be q pressing de
maui in Boston, IS elsewhere, for "gooC
: girls" to work at domestic service IL
families. Such may get from IS to s!
per week, board included. Most Amer
lean girls do not like to work in families
They like better to enter stores as clerks
They would rather wait on The mistres,
behind the counter, at lrss wages, than a
her house. There is still q stair
attlched to "goiug ou5 as help
The American girl is told that al
honest IL Dor Is Honorable, and that she
can elevate aud dignity her calling IS
hired assistant 10 the family. But sht
I does not take the idea. Its too much
TO expect OF her. The theory is eO0d,
and true. But the general practice in So
cietv does not poiat that way. Besides,
good mistTeSSes ana hOGsekee .ers are Sa
scarce as "g lod girls" The mistress
may have her moods, her lenses and TEN.
pers as well as The grl. Human imger-
lection dYelIs in the p4rlOr "a
well as attic. The good girl
is expected to ''put up" with the
mistress "out Of sorts" spells. The Coud
mistress cannot, of course, "pu5 up" Win
the girls Changes Of temper ATTIRE and
AariatiOrs c! compass. Ladies in Boston
speak deprecatingly Of the tendency Of
girls to seek the ill-psld positions in shops
and stores rather than sCcept better paid
positions in families, where they could
have "gOod home" Bat the girl mas
also her idea rs 20 ''good home" II
may differ from that Of the mistress. The
girl, for instance, may want to go out
every night, when her Gays work is done.
The mistress may be able so to
do. We are all imbued with
q terribly troublesome, turbulent
desire for freedom. It extends TO maid,
master and mistress. IN the girls eSti-
mat, among other things, good home
Implies some freedom, recreation and
change. If you are Gree, white and
twenty or twenty-one," do you wantyour
going out to see your chums limited to
one evening week. l have heard ladies'
blazing away at the folly and extravaganza
of girls of lOwly estate few hours after
losing an amount equal to girls six
months wages in stock gambling. How
hard it is for any of,Us to find that j5wel
consistency, and WeaRsit consistently after
we have found it. p
What is the outcome Of the surplus
woman here? With all the pain and pri-
walton accompanying the condition of af.
fairs there is good working out OF it.
More women in B )ston than perhaps in
any other American city are being taught
TO depend on themsslv,s and their own
powers. More women here than else
where are, through these hard paths, be-
, ing taught the error Of marrying SIMPLY
for q home and en assured support.
Women here are commencing to fad out
that their "rightS" are their CIVIC powers;
that talent, executive ability and other
forces Of mind Of which the many now
know little, belong tn woman as
much as to man. They are finding out
that actresses in the drama of life are as
necessary as actors, and that the play
cannot 20 on without them. There is to
day in Boston a generation OF younger
women, whose character belng shaped by
the present condition of affairs, have de-
termined almost uncOnSciouSly to "paddle
their own canoes" The influence OF
these girls will be felt ten years hence.
The girl to-day of fifteen or twenty is TO
be in 1896 the woman of twenty five or
thirty, and greet advance over her sex
OF that age to-day. There will be a
great awakening for the mascuhnes when
a few more WON n prove their ability to
MAJ age large business operations. No
man can do it. Every woman VINO
nages we'll her household governs well
sialI Empire. As she eau govern well
under t. he roof OF q dwelling house, she
can also under that of store, office or
Workshop Her mistake in the pas. has
been that of asking her 'rights" of nan.
He has nChe 10 give her. When she finds !
out her ppwer and uses it he must give |
all that rightfully belongs to her.
PRENTICE ULFORD.